Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus) dated to 1.85–1.78 Ma
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The early Pleistocene colonization of temperate Eurasia by Homo erectus was not only a significant biogeographic event but also a major evolutionary threshold. Dmanisi's rich collection of hominin fossils, revealing a population that was small-brained with both primitive and derived skeletal traits, has been dated to the earliest Upper Matuyama chron ( ca . 1.77 Ma). Here we present archaeological and geologic evidence that push back Dmanisi's first occupations to shortly after 1.85 Ma and document repeated use of the site over the last half of the Olduvai subchron, 1.85–1.78 Ma. These discoveries show that the southern Caucasus was occupied repeatedly before Dmanisi's hominin fossil assemblage accumulated, strengthening the probability that this was part of a core area for the colonization of Eurasia. The secure age for Dmanisi's first occupations reveals that Eurasia was probably occupied before Homo erectus appears in the East African fossil record.
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H. erectus is the earliest hominin found outside Africa, in the early Pleistocene.
“To date, H. erectus, is the earliest hominin found outside Africa, in the early Pleistocene 28”
From The evolutionary history of the human face (2019) · cites this paper as [28]
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- Authors
- Ferring, R., Oms, O., Agustí, J., Berna, F., Nioradze, M., Shelia, T., Tappen, M., Vekua, A., Zhvania, D., & Lordkipanidze, D.
- Affiliations
- University of North Texas (US)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies, 43005 Tarragona, Spain;
- University of Milan (IT)
- Georgian National Museum, 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia; and
- Georgian National Museum (GE)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2011-06-06
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- 26
- Pages
- 10432-10436
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3127884
- OpenAlex
- W2143821605
- Cited by
- 318
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 92.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0324567, 1025245)
- Leakey Foundation
- Rolex
- Georgian National Science Foundation
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Keywords
- Dmanisi, early human occupation, Homo erectus, Early Pleistocene, Olduvai subchron, South Caucasus, site reuse, human evolution
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Anthropology, Fossils, Georgia (Republic), Humans, Paleontology, Hominidae, History, Ancient
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